our lot cast where the joyful sound of the Gospel is heard, where the glad tidings of peace upon earth, and good-will to the sons of men, are announced to us by the Son of God, who came to bring pardon and salvation to a guilty world? What everlasting ground of thankfulness is afforded by the blessed hope that is given us of life immortal; of a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, when the earthly house of this tabernacle shall be dissolved; of an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, ascertained to all good men by the death and the resurrection of our blessed Redeemer! Bless the Lord, O my soul! and all that is within me, bless his holy name, and forget not all his benefits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies.* Let us now add, III. ENTIRE and profound submission, as a disposition most necessary to be preserved on our part towards God. This includes submission of the understanding to the discoveries which God has been pleased to make; submission of the inclinations to the laws which He has promulgated for our conduct; submission of the will to the dispensations of his Providence, as they affect the events of our life. It is not submission constrained merely by a power against which we know that it is in vain to struggle; it is submission arising from reverence compounded with gratitude; submission to One whose supreme perfection entitles Him to absolute obedience, whose experienced goodness affords ground for implicit trust. In the present imperfect state of human nature, there will be often found no small reluctance to that entire resignation to God which religion requires. The pride of human understanding will sometimes revolt against the discoveries which God has made in his word, as deficient and unsatisfactory; the struggles of passion will frequently rise against the restraints imposed on us by his laws, and the severities inflicted by his Providence. But in the heart of a pious man all such opposition is checked and borne down, by a steady faith that, under the administration of the Almighty, all is ordered for the best, though for several steps of that high administration we are unable at present to account. Hence that calm tranquillity he preserves, and that resolute and magnanimous submission he maintains, amidst the most unpromising circumstances. He knows that in this stupendous universe, there must be many things that lie beyond our comprehension. As yet thou seest no more than the rise of the Divine government, the beginnings of a great plan, which is not to be completed until the course of ages shall end. Meanwhile darkness must be allowed, for wise reasons, to remain upon many things; severe restraints must be imposed on conduct, and occasional sufferings must be endured. If thou sufferest, sigh and be silent; wait, and be patient. Presume not to exalt thy weak reason against the revelations of Heaven, nor to give vent to thy impatient complaints against the ordinations of thy Supreme Governour. Think with awe, and speak with caution, of what is so much above thee. Wait till thy being shall be unfolded; till it shall have passed through the necessary steps that shall gradually prepare thee for beholding the secrets of the universe; for understanding the counsels of the God who made it. In the mean time, be content to submit and to adore. Let no other voice be heard from thee but this; "Thou hast made me, “O God! and I am thine, for in thee I live and move "and have my being. Wherever Thou commandest "me to go, I follow. Whatever Thou appointest "me to suffer, I bear without murmur. It is my "part to persevere in my duty; all the rest I leave "to Thee; to Thee, whose wisdom I revere, whose "goodness I have so often experienced; in whom "therefore I repose implicit trust, that all shall end "well, and the righteous be made finally happy." Good is the word which the Lord hath spoken. Not my will, but His be done. Behold, here I am. Let Him do to his servant as seemeth good to Him. * Such are the principal dispositions which it becomes us to preserve towards God; to preserve towards Him at all times; not in the solemn hours of devotion only, but when we act in the busy world, or when we walk in retirement amidst the scenes of nature. . If this union of reverence, gratitude, and submission, habitually possess our minds, they will of course shoot forth into what is termed delighting ourselves in God; ; thinking of Him with peculiar complacency and warmth of affection; and elevating us sometimes into a sacred transport when we draw nigh to Him in acts of immediate worship, in prayer and praise. Then is the season when the fulness of the soul gives rise to those sublime and pathetic effusions of piety which are recorded of saints in former times: My soul thirsteth for God; for the living God: when shall I * 2 Kings, xx. 19. Luke, xxii. 42. 2 Sam. xv. 26. come and appear before him? I will lift up my hands` in thy name; my soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and with fatness, when I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee. O, that I knew where to find him, that I might come even to his seat!* When such sentiments as these, of ardent affection towards God, chastened by reverence and submission, as well as warmed by gratitude, predominate in our hearts, and when they exert their proper influence in purifying and regulating our life, we may then be truly said to love the Lord our God, with all our heart, and soul, and strength, and mind. * Ps. xlii. 2. Ps. lxiii. 4, 5, 6. Ps. lxv. 4. Job, xxiii. 3. SERMON LXXIV. On the Moral Character of CHRIST. ACTs, x. 38. Jesus of Nazareth-who went about doing good. THERE are two great aspects under which we race. may contemplate the appearance of our Blessed Lord on the earth. One is, his coming into the world in order to make expiation to Divine justice, by his sufferings and death, for the guilt of the human The other is, his coming to act as the enlightener and reformer of the world, by his doctrine and his life. The first of those views is the most sublime; as on the atonement which he made for us, depend all our hopes of the pardon of sin, and of life eternal. In the other view, it is also of high importance that all Christians should frequently consider him, in order to the proper regulation of their conduct: the observation of his example is no less necessary for this purpose, than attention to his doctrine; as by his doctrine he taught us what we are bound to do, so in his example he showed us what we ought to be. Hence the example of our Blessed Lord has been ever held up by serious writers to Christians for their instruction and imitation. It obviously possesses many advantages above any other standard of conduct. It carries peculiar obligations from gratitude, |